Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $7.0\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$144$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${7.0\%} \times {\$144} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $7.0\%$ is equivalent to $7.0 \div 100$ $7.0 \div 100 = 0.070$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.070$ $\times$ $$144$ = $$10.08$ You would pay $$10.08$ in sales tax.